An Analysis of Biomechanical Parameters in OTP Police Physical Intervention Techniques for Occupational Risk Prevention

(1) Background: a set of ergonomic parameters that are relevant for risk assessment methods for the prevention of occupational risks, such as REBA or NIOSH, have been measured by means of inertial sensors that allow capturing the movements of the human body. These methods base their assessment on a number of postural and dynamic parameters. In the case of police physical intervention techniques, trunk, legs, arms, forearms and wrists angles, joint contact force and sheer force at the L5-Pelvic junction, asymmetry (angle and factor), and muscle power are the more relevant parameters to be considered. (2) Method: The data have been collected by means of a motion capture suit equipped with 19 inertial sensors. The large amount of data and the 3-dimensional plots have been managed by a powerful software package specific for ergonomic analysis. The police physical intervention technique used was OTP. (3) Results: Five ergonomic parameters in a traditional police physical intervention technique have been analyzed. REBA scores and ergonomic metrics have been recorded and discussed with some prevention risk limits from the literature. (4) Conclusions: the usage of inertial sensors to capture the movements in OTPs provides a new and quite an efficient viewpoint for occupational risk research studies

Discrimination of Ignitable Liquid Residues in Burned Petroleum-Derived Substrates by Using HS-MS eNose and Chemometrics

Interpretation of data from fire debris is considered as one of the most challenging steps in fire investigation. Forensic analysts are tasked to identify the presence or absence of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) which may indicate whether a fire was started deliberately. So far, data analysis is subjected to human interpretation following the American Society for Testing and Materials' guidelines (ASTM E1618) based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry data. However, different factors such as interfering pyrolysis compounds may hinder the interpretation of data. Some substrates release compounds that are in the range of common ignitable liquids, which interferes with accurate determination of ILRs. The aim of the current research is to investigate whether headspace-mass spectroscopy electronic nose (HS-MS eNose) combined with pattern recognition can be used to classify different ILRs from fire debris samples that contain a complex matrix (petroleum-based substrates or synthetic fibers carpet) that can strongly interfere with their identification. Six different substrates-four petroleum-derived substrates (vinyl, linoleum, polyester, and polyamide carpet), as well as two different materials for comparison purposes (cotton and cork) were used to investigate background interferences. Gasoline, diesel, ethanol, and charcoal starter with kerosene were used as ignitable liquids. In addition, fire debris samples were taken after different elapsed times. A total of 360 fire debris samples were analyzed. The obtained total ion mass spectrum was combined with unsupervised exploratory techniques such as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) as well as supervised linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The results from HCA show a strong tendency to group the samples according to the ILs and substrate used, and LDA allowed for a full identification and discrimination of every ILR regardless of the substrate.Consejería de Economía, Conocimiento, Empresas y Universidad. Junta de Andalucía; 2014-2020 ERDF Operational Programm

A Legal and Forensic Medicine Approach to Police Physical Intervention Techniques in High-Risk Situations

Background: The physical intervention techniques (PITs) typically used by the police in troublesome situations are examined in terms of injuring potential depending on whether they target a body zone of high, medium or low vulnerability. Based on legal and forensic considerations, and principles of congruence, opportunity and proportionality, a need exists to favor opponent locking and arrest techniques targeting non-vulnerable zones to minimize the risk of severe damage. Methods: A search of the training manuals for the different kind of law of enforcement officers was carried out. Revision of injuries was available from electronic databases of academic o medical journals. Results: Three different locking and arrest PITs based on operational tactical procedures (OTP) that avoid zones of high or medium vulnerability are proposed. The new techniques use blocking, diverting and grabbing of the upper and lower limbs, followed by dislocation and locking of the same targets. Conclusions: The damaging potential of such PITs was assessed in terms of anatomical region and most were found to have a high risk of severe damage. The alternative PITs proposed here, which rely on OTP, improve in legal and forensic medical terms on existing choices and dramatically reduce the risk of injuring arrestees

Extraction of Anthocyanins and Total Phenolic Compounds from Açai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) Using an Experimental Design Methodology. Part 3: Microwave-Assisted Extraction

In this work, two methods based on microwave-assisted extraction techniques for the extraction of both anthocyanins and total phenolic compounds from acai have been developed. For that, a full factorial design (Box-Behnken design) has been used to optimize the following four variables: solvent composition (25-75% methanol in water), temperature (50-100 degrees C), pH (2-7), and sample/solvent ratio (0.5 g: 10 mL-0.5 g: 20 mL). The anthocyanins and total phenolic compounds content have been determined by ultra high-pressure liquid chromatography and Folin-Ciocalteu method, respectively. The optimum conditions for the extraction of anthocyanins were 38% MeOH in water, 99.63 degrees C, pH 3.00, at 0.5 g: 10 mL of ratio, while for the extraction of total phenolic compounds they were 74.16% MeOH in water, 99.14 degrees C, pH 5.46, at 0.5 g: 20 mL of ratio. Both methods have shown a high repeatability and intermediate precision with a relative standard deviation lower than 5%. Furthermore, an extraction kinetics study was carried out using extraction periods ranging from 2 min until 25 min. The optimized methods have been applied to acai-containing real samples. The results with such real samples have confirmed that both methods are suitable for a rapid and reliable extraction of anthocyanins and total phenolic compounds

Extraction of anthocyanins and total phenolic compounds from açai (euterpe oleracea mart.) using an experimental design methodology. part 1: Pressurized liquid extraction

Currently, açai is one of the most important fruits present in the world. Several studies have demonstrated its high content in phenolic compounds and anthocyanins. Both of them are responsible of interesting properties of the fruit such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant or anticancer. In the present study, two optimized pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) methods have been developed for the extraction of anthocyanins and total phenolic compounds from açai. A full factorial design (Box-Behnken design) with six variables (solvent composition (25%-75% methanol-in-water), temperature (50-100°C), pressure (100-200 atm), purge time (30-90 s), pH (2-7) and flushing (50%-150%)) were employed. The percentage of methanol in the extraction solvent was proven to be the most significant variable for the extraction of anthocyanins. In the case of total phenolic compounds, the extraction temperature was the most influential variable. The developed methods showed high precision, with relative standard deviations (RSD) of less than 5%. The applicability of the methods was successfully evaluated in real samples. In conclusion, two rapid and reliable PLE extraction methods to be used for laboratories and industries to determine anthocyanins and total phenolic compounds in açai and its derived products were developed in this work

Extraction of Anthocyanins and Total Phenolic Compounds from Acai (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) Using an Experimental Design Methodology. Part 2: Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction

Two optimized methods for ultrasound-assisted extraction were evaluated for the extraction of two types of acai bioactive compounds: Total anthocyanins (TAs) and total phenolic compounds (TPCs). For the extraction optimization, a Box Behnken factorial design of different variables in the following intervals was used: Methanol-water (25%-75%) for solvent composition, temperatures between 10 and 70 degrees C, amplitude in the range between 30% and 70% of the maximum amplitude -200 W), extraction solvent pH (2-7), the ratio for sample-solvent (0.5 g:10 mL-0.5 g:20 mL), and cycle between 0.2 and 0.7 s. The extraction kinetics were studied using different periods between 5 and 30 min. TA and TPC were analyzed by UHPLC and the Folin-Ciocalteu method, respectively. Optimized conditions for TA were: 51% MeOH in water, 31 degrees C temperature, pH 6.38, cycle 0.7 s, 65% amplitude, and 0.5 g:10 mL of sample-solvent ratio. Optimized conditions for the TPC were: 49% MeOH in water, 41 degrees C temperature, pH 6.98, cycle 0.2 s, 30% amplitude, and 0.5 g:10 mL of sample-solvent ratio. Both methods presented a relative standard deviation below 5% in the precision study. The suitability of the methods was tested in real samples. It was confirmed that these methods are feasible for the extraction of the studied bioactive compounds from different acai matrices

OTP-PRL: an app for occupational risk prevention in policing activities

Background: The rapid progress in information and communication technologies has promoted the development of smartphone applications (apps) for a wide variety of purposes including workplace safety. However, no specific apps for occupational risk prevention in the police domain seemingly exist as yet. In this work, an app running under the iOS and Android operating systems was developed to help police officers become acquainted with policing-related occupational risks and to prevent their damaging consequences. Results: The proposed app, which uses an iterative user-centered design to avoid occupational risks in policing activities, was assessed for performance by a group of users and experts through a System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire. The mean overall score for the questionnaire was 82.3. The app has backend support to facilitate continual improvement through contributions from users and administrators. A field test revealed increased awareness of policing occupational risks after using the app in many users. Conclusions: A novel product that covers the needs of ORP requirements of police officers has been developed

Optimization through a Box-Behnken Experimental Design of the Microwave-Assisted Extraction of the Psychoactive Compounds in Hallucinogenic Fungi (Psylocibe cubensis)

Hallucinogenic fungi, mainly those from the Psilocybe genus, are being increasingly consumed even though there is no control on their culture conditions. Due to the therapeutic potential as antidepressants and anxiolytics of the alkaloids that they produce (psilocin and psilocybin), some form of control on their production would be highly recommended. Prior to identifying their optimal culture condition, a methodology that allows their study is required. Microwave-assisted extraction method (MAE) is a technique that has proven its efficiency to extract different compounds from solid matrices. For this reason, this study intends to optimize a MAE method to extract the alkaloids found in Psylocibe cubensis. A surface-response Box-Behnken design has been employed to optimize such extraction method and significantly reduce time and other resources in the extraction process. Based on the Box-Behnken design, 50 degrees C temperature, 60% methanol as extraction solvent, 0.6 g:10 mL sample mass:solvent ratio and 5 min extraction time, were established as optimal conditions. These mild conditions, combined with a rapid and efficient UHPLC analysis result in a practical and economical methodology for the extraction of psilocin and psilocybin from Psylocibe cubensis

A Methodology Based on FT-IR Data Combined with Random Forest Model to Generate Spectralprints for the Characterization of High-Quality Vinegars

Sherry wine vinegar is a Spanish gourmet product under Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Before a vinegar can be labeled as Sherry vinegar, the product must meet certain requirements as established by its PDO, which, in this case, means that it has been produced following the traditional solera and criadera ageing system. The quality of the vinegar is determined by many factors such as the raw material, the acetification process or the aging system. For this reason, mainly producers, but also consumers, would benefit from the employment of effective analytical tools that allow precisely determining the origin and quality of vinegar. In the present study, a total of 48 Sherry vinegar samples manufactured from three different starting wines (Palomino Fino, Moscatel, and Pedro Ximenez wine) were analyzed by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The spectroscopic data were combined with unsupervised exploratory techniques such as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA), as well as other nonparametric supervised techniques, namely, support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF), for the characterization of the samples. The HCA and PCA results present a clear grouping trend of the vinegar samples according to their raw materials. SVM in combination with leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) successfully classified 100% of the samples, according to the type of wine used for their production. The RF method allowed selecting the most important variables to develop the characteristic fingerprint ("spectralprint") of the vinegar samples according to their starting wine. Furthermore, the RF model reached 100% accuracy for both LOOCV and out-of-bag (OOB) sets.The authors would like to thank the winery Bodegas Paez Morilla S.A. for providing the Sherry vinegar samples and for the interest shown in the results of this study and Programa de Fomento e Impulso de la Actividad de Investigacion y Transferencia de la Universidad de Cadiz for the financial support of this manuscript

Extraction of Antioxidants from Blackberry (Rubus ulmifolius L.): Comparison between Ultrasound- and Microwave-Assisted Extraction Techniques

Berries are considered functional food because of their potential health benefits to consumers due to their high concentrations in bioactive compounds. The extraction process of their antioxidant compounds is a crucial step. In this work, ultrasound (UAE) and microwave (MAE) assisted extraction have been evaluated and compared for the recovery of total phenolic compounds (TPC) and total anthocyanins (TA) from blackberry. Since several variables have an influence on the extraction processes e ciency, a response surface method using a Box–Behnken design (BBD) was chosen for the optimization of UAE and MAE variables. Six variables (solvent, temperature, amplitude, cycle, pH, and sample:solvent ratio) were optimized for UAE while the optimization for MAE was performed on four variables (solvent, temperature, pH, and sample:solvent ratio). It has been proven that solvent and temperature have a significant influence on the extraction of both TA and TPC. Only 10 and 5 min were necessary to complete the UAE and MAE procedures, respectively. A precision study was also carried out, and coe cient of variation lower than 5% was determined. Non-significant di erences were obtained when using UAE and MAE at their respective optimum conditions. Thus, the results demonstrated a successful potential use of both techniques for the extraction of TA and TPC from blackberry. In conclusion, this work shows interesting perspectives for quality control analytical laboratories for the development of rapid extraction techniques to quantify these antioxidant compounds in blackberries